Sonal Patel
Articles By

Sonal Patel

  • Space Solar Power Prototype Beams First Power to Earth

    California Institute of Technology’s (Caltech’s) first space-borne prototype launched into orbit has demonstrated the ability to wirelessly transmit power in space and beam detectable power to Earth. The

  • Integration of Hydropower and Hydrogen Gains Momentum

    In May, U.S. national laboratories Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) partnered with regulated utility Idaho Power to determine the viability of integrating

  • POWER Digest [July 2023]

    Germany and Denmark Launch 3-GW Offshore Wind Project, First Cross-Border Collaborative Effort Under EU Directive. Germany and Denmark on June 1 signed a legally binding cooperation agreement to develop

  • POWERnews—June 29, 2023

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 29, 2023 Digitalization Is Now a Power Sector Imperative: Takeaways from Connected Plant Conference 2023 Digitalization is now so firmly embedded in the power sector that if participants haven’t yet begun their digital journey, they’ve inherently fallen behind. That was a […]

  • Digitalization Is Now a Power Sector Imperative: Takeaways from Connected Plant Conference 2023

    Digitalization is now so firmly embedded in the power sector that if participants haven’t yet begun their digital journey, they’ve inherently fallen behind. That was a message repeated at the three-day 7th annual Connected Plant Conference (CPC), which took place this week in New Orleans, Louisiana. POWER magazine and Chemical Engineering magazine’s conference this year […]

  • Siemens Energy Investigating Dark Web Ransomware Claim

    Siemens Energy and Schneider Electric, two industrial control system (ICS) vendors for critical infrastructure industries, have been reportedly listed as ransomware victims by cybercrime gang CL0P, though any targeted attacks are yet unconfirmed. The ransomware gang, also known as TA505, began exploiting a vulnerability in MOVEit Transfer, an internet-facing automated file transfer web application, starting […]

  • POWERnews—June 22, 2023

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 22, 2023 Another Delay for New Unit at Vogtle Nuclear Plant Georgia Power said commercial operation of the new Unit 3 at Plant Vogtle has been delayed for at least another month. The utility on June 16 said there's a problem… […]

  • SRP’s Urgent 575-MW Aeroderivative Natural Gas Expansion Gets Arizona Regulator’s Green Light

    The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) on June 21 issued an amended certificate of environmental compatibility (CEC) for Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District’s (SRP’s) 575-MW natural gas–fired Coolidge Expansion Project. The measure marks a hard-fought triumph for SRP, which urgently sought the plant’s expansion, arguing it is crucial for near-term system reliability and […]

  • NRC Completes Safety Review for Kairos Nuclear Test Reactor Within 18 Months

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has wrapped up a final safety evaluation for Kairos Power’s 35-MWth Hermes “non-power” demonstration reactor, which the firm has proposed to build at the East Tennessee Technology Park Heritage Center site in Oak Ridge, and plans to begin operating by 2026. The NRC’s review, which concluded “no safety aspects that would […]

  • ERCOT’s Energy Emergency Risk Has Shifted from Late Afternoon to Early Evening

    Modeling from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) suggests an 11% probability of having a load shed issue on a peak day this summer, an official said during a reliability committee meeting on June 19. The Texas grid, which was tested this week by a record-breaking heat wave, issued a weather watch and a […]

  • POWERnews—June 15, 2023

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 15, 2023 Centrus Gets NRC Green Light to Introduce Uranium Into HALEU Nuclear Enrichment Cascade The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has allowed Centrus Energy—a firm contracted by the  U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) production with […]

  • Centrus Gets NRC Green Light to Introduce Uranium Into HALEU Nuclear Enrichment Cascade

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has allowed Centrus Energy—a firm contracted by the  U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) production with domestic technology—to introduce uranium hexafluoride (UF6) into its uranium enrichment centrifuge cascade in Piketon, Ohio. The development marks yet another critical milestone for Bethesda, Maryland–headquartered company in its efforts […]

  • Duke Energy to Shed 3.4-GW Unregulated Renewable Business Segment in $2.8B Deal

    In a bid to transition to a fully regulated business, Duke Energy will sell its unregulated utility-scale solar and wind group—a portfolio of 3.4 GW—for an enterprise value of $2.8 billion to pure-play renewable power platform Brookfield Renewable. The companies announced the transaction for a portion of Duke Energy’s Commercial Renewables business segment on June […]

  • POWERnews—June 8, 2023

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 8, 2023 Devastating Ukraine Dam Breach Raises Concerns for Nearby Nuclear Plant A breach at the Nova Kakhovka Dam stemming from the destruction of the 351-MW hydroelectric power plant in southern Ukraine on June 6 has triggered massive flooding, prompted an […]

  • Devastating Ukraine Dam Breach Raises Concerns for Nearby Nuclear Plant

    A breach at the Nova Kakhovka Dam stemming from the destruction of the 351-MW hydroelectric power plant in southern Ukraine on June 6 has triggered massive flooding, prompted an environmental crisis, and raised new perils for a nearby nuclear plant on the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine war. Completed in 1956, the Kakhovka hydropower power plant […]

  • Westinghouse, Fortum to Study Possibilities for AP1000, AP300 Nuclear Reactors in Finland and Sweden 

    Westinghouse Electric and Finnish utility Fortum will cooperate to explore developing and deploying AP1000 and AP300 reactor projects in Finland and Sweden.  The companies on June 7 signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to establish a framework of collaboration “for detailed technical and commercial discussions and explore cooperation on the next steps” to implement Westinghouse’s advanced […]

  • POWERnews—June 1, 2023

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 1, 2023 NRG Energy to Sell Texas Nuclear Plant Stake to Constellation in $1.75B Power Move Constellation Energy, the largest nuclear generator in the U.S., will take over NRG Energy’s 44% ownership stake in the 2.6-GW South Texas Project Electric Generating […]

  • NRG Energy to Sell Texas Nuclear Plant Stake to Constellation in $1.75B Power Move

    Constellation Energy, the largest nuclear generator in the U.S., will take over NRG Energy’s 44% ownership stake in the 2.6-GW South Texas Project Electric Generating Station (STP), a nuclear power plant located in Bay City, Texas. Under a definitive agreement announced by two companies on June 1, Constellation will acquire NRG’s 44% equity interest in […]

  • Dynamic Innovation in Power Sector Digitalization

    The power industry’s rapid adoption of digitalization is a striking example of its dynamic innovation—the continuous development and introduction of new ideas, products, or processes to meet shifting

  • OTEC, a Long-Stalled Baseload Ocean Power Technology, Is Seeing a Swell

    A project to deploy a 1.5-MW commercial-scale ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) platform in the African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe by 2025 has gained a key design certification. The crucial

  • Japan Moving Forward on Nuclear Accident Tolerant Fuels

    Efforts by Japanese nuclear fuel manufacturers to develop accident tolerant fuel (ATF) materials are making progress, and their commercialization is currently expected between 2030 and 2035 after key

  • POWERnews—May 25, 2023

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 25, 2023 U.S. Power Sector Trade Groups Flag Critical Electrical Steel Crunch Nine trade groups—including four representing the power sector—have urged the Biden administration to prioritize actions that support the domestic production of electrical steel, warning that shortages are contributing to […]

  • Westinghouse, Bechtel Form Consortium to Design and Build Poland’s First Nuclear Plant

    Westinghouse Electric Co., Bechtel, and state-owned Polish entity Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) will work together to kick off design activity for Poland’s inaugural AP1000 nuclear power plant later this year and potentially ink a construction contract in 2025 in a bid to meet Poland’s goal to begin nuclear power generation in 2033. The companies announced […]

  • DOE: MARVEL Microreactor Prototype Installed, Gearing Up for Testing

    A full-scale electrically heated prototype of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) 100-kWth MARVEL nuclear microreactor has been successfully installed at a facility in New Freedom, Pennsylvania, and is readying for testing. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) fabricated the full-scale non-nuclear prototype—known as the primary coolant apparatus test (PCAT)—in January 2022 within nine months. PCAT was then […]

  • U.S. Power Sector Trade Groups Flag Critical Electrical Steel Crunch

    Nine trade groups—including four representing the power sector—have urged the Biden administration to prioritize actions that support the domestic production of electrical steel, warning that shortages are contributing to “significant and persistent” supply chain challenges. The groups, which include the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the American Public Power Association (APPA), the National Rural Electric Cooperative […]

  • UK Developing Digital Twin to Better Understand Future Energy Systems

    The UK will back a “digital twin” of future multi-vector energy systems, including non-electric ones, that will support the country’s efforts to meet its 2050 net-zero objectives. The UK’s effort echoes several initiatives launched worldwide to deliver new visibility, knowledge, and understanding of future energy systems and integrate real-time modeling. UK transmission and distribution grid […]

  • Global Commitments Bolster Romanian NuScale Nuclear Project

    A project to deploy the first NuScale 462-MWe VOYGR-6 nuclear power plant in Romania by 2029 has garnered a $275 million public-private funding commitment from the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a global infrastructure partnership. The Romanian project may be bolstered by an additional $4 billion outlined […]

  • POWERnews—May 18, 2023

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 18, 2023 TVA Head Wants Nothing to Do with Building One Reactor Unless He Can Build 20 Building a nuclear power plant is a difficult job. It takes years of planning and sometimes more than a decade to complete. The risk […]

  • Oklo’s Next Two Nuclear Power Plants Planned for Southern Ohio

    Advanced nuclear reactor technology firm Oklo will build its second and third commercial 15-MWe Aurora Powerhouse reactors on land owned by the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative (SODI), a community reuse organization tasked by the Department of Energy (DOE) to re-industrialize land around the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) just south of Piketon, Ohio. Oklo on […]

  • POWERnews—May 11, 2023

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 11, 2023 Carbon Capture Key to EPA's New Power Plant Emissions Rule The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has unveiled new greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for the nation’s power plants, moving to require both existing and new facilities to capture emissions […]